Traditional seat extension systems may include an extendable support portion which may be heavy or difficult to translate from a retracted position to an extended position. Particularly, a movement in the vertical from retracted to extended of a head rest extendable support may require excessive force by a user. Once in position, the extendable support may translate to an undesired position being acted upon by outside forces.
Some seat extensions may include multiple moving parts to accurately support differing body shapes. These seat extensions may be of substantial mass and become prone to inadvertent movement once placed in the desired position.
In addition to a head rest extension, a seat pan or leg rest extension may be under lateral forces causing undesired movement from a desired position.
An adequately supported user may be a requirement of a particular seat. In a commercial passenger aircraft application, personal comfort may be of primary concern. In a commercial pilot seat, a safely restrained pilot of differing size may be a requirement of a certification agency. Further, a precisely conformed seat may offer a military pilot increased probability of a successful and uninjured ejection from a high-performance aircraft. Any moving vehicle may require a seat including movable extensions to adequately support and secure the human occupant.
Therefore, a need remains for a system and method for maintaining a desired translation position of a seat extension in a retracted position, an extended position and an unlimited number of intermediate positions to adequately support and secure the human occupant.